Screw driver



E. S. LOVE SCREW DRIVER sept. 26, 14939.

Filed June 30,' 1938 Patented Sept. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE1 Claim.

This invention relates to screw drivers, and an object of the inventionis to provide a screw driver, the blade or bit of which may be readilyadjusted longitudinally with respect to the handle of the tool as founddesirable.

A further object of the invention is to provide a screw driver of thecharacter above mentioned wherein the headed screw or similar work maybe placed and magnetically held preparatory to being rotated in securingit to an object.

The invention together with its objects and advantages will be bestunderstood from a study of the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the screw driver withcertain parts shown in elevation,

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional viewtaken substantially on the line 22 of Figure l, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail sectional View taken substantially atright angles to Figure 1, and at the blade or bit-equipped end of thetool.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals it will be seen that thescrew driver in the preferred embodiment thereof comprises a handle 5 ofwood or other suitable material that is provided with an axial bore 6and is equipped at one end with a metallic ferrule or cap 'I forstrengthening and reinforcing purposes.

The bore 6 accommodates therein a shank 8 that is provided with athreaded pin 9 on which is threaded a cap nut I0 that seats within asocket provided therefor in the outer or free end of the handle 5 andserves to secure the shank 8 in positive association with the handle 5.

At the end thereof remote from the pin 9 shank 8 is provided with anintegral fork II the legs I2 of which are in closely spaced parallelismand at their terminals I3 are magnetized in a manner to provide apermanent magnet so that when engaged with the head of a screw or thelike I4 the latter will be held in place, magnetically, preparatory tobeing rotated in securing it to an object.

The legs I2 of the fork II slidably accommodate therebetween the bladeor bit I5, the term bit as here used referring particularly to a screwdriver bit or blade but may of course include all forms of replaceablehand tool elements that may be connected to the handle tool 5.

The bit or blade I5 is substantially flat and is provided on oppositesides thereof with longitudinal ribs or keys I6 that are accommodated inlongitudinal grooves or ways II provided on the inner sides of the legsI2 of fork I I as will be clear from a study of the drawing. Thus thebit I5 is held between the legs of the fork II in 5 a mannerconstraining the bit or blade to shift longitudinally relative to thefork.

The opposite longitudinal edges of the bit or blade I5 are provided withthreads I8 that complement the threads of an adjusting nut I9 that 10 isengaged in grooves 2U provided in the outer sides of the legs l2 of theyoke II. Obviously by rotating the nut I2 the bit I5 may be projected orretracted relative to the fork or yoke I I.

Also, in accordance with the present inven- 15 tion the working head ofthe blade or bit l5 has the opposite sides thereof knurled or otherwiseformed to provide roughened surfaces 2| that will engage the contactingmetal of the screw head and effectively stop longitudinal mo- 20 tion ofthe bit or blade relative to the screw and thus overcome the tendency ofthe blade or bit to lift out of the kerf in the head of the screw assometimes occurs when twisting force is applied to the screw driver andas is necessary in 25 securing the screw to the object or work.

It is thought that a clear understanding of the construction, utilityand advantages of a screw driver embodying the features of the presentinvention will be had without a more detailed de 30 scription.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is:

In a screw driver, a handle, a xed holder eX- tending from the handleand comprising a pair 35 of parallel laterally spaced legs provided inthe inner faces thereof with a pair of opposed longitudinal grooves,extending from end to end thereof, and a pair of opposed transversecircumferential grooves intermediate said ends', a nut ro- 40 tatablymounted in said transverse grooves, and a bit of substantially the samelength as said legs slidably fitted therebetween and provided with areduced fiat working end and longitudinal `keys fitting into saidlongitudinal grooves and 45 extending from said reduced end to theopposite end of the bit, said bit having threaded side edges extendingoutwardly of said legs for engagement with the threads of said nut, theouter 50 ends only of sald legs being magnetlzed.

EUGENE S. LOVE.

